Here is this week's WGXC Congressional Report, tracking the votes, statements, positions, and campaigns of the representatives and candidates for the 18th, 19th, 20th, and 21st Congressional seats in New York. Democrat Pat Ryan is representing the 18th Congressional District, Republican Marc Molinaro represents the 19th Congressional District, Democrat Rep. Paul Tonko represents the 20th District, and Republican Elise Stefanik represents the 21st District. Click here to listen to this report.

Diana Glebova reports for The New York Post that, campaigning for Donald Trump in New Hampshire on Jan. 20, Rep. Elise Stefanik said she would be “honored” to be his vice-president. Stefanik, who currently represents Rensselaer County and the rest of the 21st Congressional District, said, “He’s going to make the right decision. I trust him to make the right decision for him. So he’s going to look for qualities that he thinks are important.... I’d be proud to serve in a Trump administration in any capacity.” Volunteers for Trump chanted "VP" after her remarks at one New Hampshire campaign stop for the former president. Read more about this story in The New York Post.

Mid-Hudson News reports that dozens of members of Jewish Federations of Ulster, Dutchess, and Orange counties thanked Rep. Pat Ryan for his continued work to free hostages still being held by Hamas, including Americans and the families of Hudson Valley residents last week. Ryan, a Democrat representing the 18th Congressional District, has seen weekly protests at his Kingston office calling for him to support a ceasefire in the war in Gaza. Nearby Republican Marc Molinaro in the 19th Congressional District has not seen similar protests or letters of support, even though he also does not back a ceasefire. The local members of the Jewish Federations gave Ryan a ‘thank you’ letter with 400 signatures from local constituents. The letter also said, “as the number of anti-Semitic incidents continues to increase at an alarming rate, we applaud your continued efforts to root out hate from the Hudson Valley.” Rondavid Gold, president of the Jewish Federation of Ulster County, called Ryan a, “true champion of the Hudson Valley Jewish community.” Read more about this story in Mid-Hudson News.

Paul Kirby reports in the Daily Freeman that. Rep. Pat Ryan again said on Jan. 23 that Central Hudson should not get its rate approval request approved by the Public Service Commission. On Jan. 24, Central Hudson's proposed double-digit rate request went before an Albany evidentiary hearing. Before that, Ryan said in a statement, “Hudson Valley families are feeling the pressure of making ends meet – Central Hudson has absolutely no business raising rates, especially after years of systemic failures." Central Hudson is asking the New York Public Service Commission to increase electric rates by 16 percent and natural gas rates by 19 percent. The utility claims that would add roughly $1 a day to the “typical” electric customer and $1 a day to the “typical” natural gas customer. The Public Service Commission is not expected to decide on the rate increase until the second quarter of the year. Read more about this story in the Daily Freeman.

Rep. Elise Stefanik has had a week in national headlines. Salon reports Stefanik, who represents Rensselaer County and the rest of the 21st Congressional District, called the cancellation of the Jan. 22 trial proceedings in writer E. Jean Carroll's defamation trial against Donald Trump "blatant election interference." After a juror called in sick, the judge wanted to continue but Trump attorney Alina Habba asked for an adjournment. So Stefanik is calling Trump's attorney's motion to delay the trial "blatant election interference." Stefanik was also mentioned by comedian Jimmy Kimmel, who spoke on Jan. 22 about Trump talking about her, after her name was floated as a possible vice-president. PLAY OR DOWNLOAD SHORT EXCERPT FROM JIMMY KIMMEL.

Mid-Hudson News reports that protesters who want Rep. Pat Ryan to back a ceasefire in the war in Gaza repeatedly interrupted his speech at the Ulster County Regional Chamber of Commerce breakfast on Jan. 24. Protesters waved signs outside of the event, and inside they shouted over his speech. Mid-Hudson News got video from the protesters of the interruptions. PLAY OR DOWNLOAD EXCERPT OF PROTESTERS YELLING. Pro-Palestinian protesters have regularly marched outside Ryan's Kingston office calling for a ceasefire. Republican Rep Marc Molinaro, from the neighboring 19th Congressional District, holds similar views of the conflict as Ryan, but is not seeing as many protesters at his events or offices. Read more about this story at Mid-Hudson News.

Today's audio daily news update.

Bill Mahoney reports for Politico that it is a Congressional election year, and in New York, the district lines are still not drawn. In December, a state Court of Appeals threw out the current lines, and gave the state’s Independent Redistricting Commission a Feb. 28 deadline to produce new draft congressional districts. Candidates begin collecting petitions to run for the still-unknown districts on Feb. 27. But local boards of elections have said they would prefer the districts be made public by around Feb. 1. The commission still needs to come up with the new district lines, and the legislature has to vote to accept them. But the commissioners who are deciding the new district lines have not scheduled a public meeting since a planning one was held a few days after Christmas. Common Cause New York executive director Susan Lerner said, “Conducting business behind closed doors is unacceptable.... Open your doors to the people. The people who live in congressional districts deserve a say in who will represent them.” The judges ruled in their December decision that the commission is not required to “conduct any solicitation of public commentary beyond what it has done previously.” It is possible that the Congressional primary is delayed, as in 2022, when the court ordered new district lines to be drawn, the primaries moved from June to August. Read more about this story in Politico.

Tessa Bentulan reports for WNYT that the Rensselaer County Legislature unanimously voted this week to set up a new registry for drug dealers. The registry will be a list tracking where convicted drug dealers in the county are living, similar to a sex offender registry. Rensselaer County District Attorney, Mary Pat Donnelly. said, “I think what I want the community to know is: this is your elected legislators’ response to what we hear time and time again out in the community: what can we do about these drug dealers? How can we keep these drugs out of our communities?” The registry will include 16-year-olds and up, even though the state's new Raise the Age law changed the age that a child can be prosecuted as an adult to 18 in criminal cases in New York state. Read more about this at WNYT.

Andrea Macko reports for Porcupine Soup that Thomas Cole’s painting "View Near Catskill" sold Jan. 18 for more than half a million dollars at Christie’s auction house in New York City. An undisclosed buyer paid $504,000 for "View Near Catskill." The painting, created in 1828 and 1829, shows the plateau of Jefferson Heights in the foreground and Kaaterskill High Peak and Roundtop Mountain. Cole is considered to be the first major American landscape painter, and The Thomas Cole House in Catskill celebrates his work. "View Near Catskill" was originally owned by General Stephen Van Rensselaer III, a U.S. congressperson, president of the Albany Institute, and a founder of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. Read more about this story at Porcupine Soup.

Today's audio daily news update.

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Tiffany Greenwaldt-Simon reports for Columbia-Greene Media that New York Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli’s Fiscal Stress Monitoring System has found the Ichabod Crane Central School District is susceptible to fiscal stress. Ichabod Crane Superintendent Marie Digirolamo disagreed with the rating, saying it was the first year they have received any rating other than “no designation." She said, “Ichabod Crane Central School District will continue its long-standing practice of fiscally responsible and transparent budgeting and accounting to meet the educational needs of our students and community.” Digirolamo said the district is waiting on $4 million outstanding federal and state grant reimbursements and state aid, which caused the rating. Sixteen schools in the state were found to be under some level of fiscal stress, with Ichabod Crane the only local school on the list. Read more about this story at HudsonValley360.com.

Lana Bellamy reports in the Times Union a state housing mobility program called Making Moves announced on Jan. 19 that it will expand its services to Orange, and Dutchess counties in the Hudson Valley. The program gives aid to Section 8 Housing Voucher Program participants to help them move to neighborhoods with higher-performing schools and lower poverty rates. The program, which began in 2020, is already in Buffalo, Westchester County, and on Long Island. Baaba Halm, vice president and New York market leader for Enterprise Community Partners, which runs the program, said, “The choice to move to improve your family’s quality of life should be one that is available to everyone.... We are thrilled to expand access to vital mobility assistance resources to residents of Tompkins, Dutchess and Orange counties and to help create a more equitable housing future for underserved communities.” The program helps with counseling, financial assistance, tenant and landlord education, and funds for home improvement and security deposits. Read more about this story in the Times Union.

Andrea Macko reports for Porcupine Soup that Efrén Hernández of Casa Susanna on Route 23B in Leeds is on the James Beard Awards 2024 Restaurant and Chef Awards semifinalist list. Hernández and the restaurant are known for their tortillas made in-house. Last year Esquire magazine had Casa Susanna on a list of Best New Restaurants in America, saying, “Nowhere on the East Coast will you have better Mexican food than what Hernández is cooking at Casa Susanna. His menu (the squash-blossom tetela, the mackerel al pastor, the tamal de chocolat) is a moan-inducing marvel." Casa Susanna is at Camptown, the former Carl’s Rip Van Winkle Motor Lodge, that spent $12 million on renovation and redesign. Read more about this story in Porcupine Soup.

Today's audio daily news update.

Raymond Pignone reports in Columbia-Greene Media that the Hudson City School District approved a new three-year agreement with the Hudson Teachers Association on Jan. 23. The new contract runs until June 30, 2026, and includes a 2.75 percent salary increase in its first year for each teacher employed by the district. After that, union teachers get a 2.5 percent raise in 2025; and a 2.25 percent increase in 2026. School Board President Willette Jones said, "“This agreement deeply reflects the spirit of -HudsonTogetherWeCan and positions us to move forward collaboratively." Both the Hudson Teachers Association members and the board of education approved the contract on Jan. 23. Read more about this story at HudsonValley36.com..

Tiffany Greenwaldt-Simon reports for Columbia-Greene Media that many local residents turned out in Catskill Jan. 23 for a public hearing on a proposed battery storage facility. The proposed facility would be at a junkyard at 8006 Route 9W in Catskill. The junk would be removed, Justin Adams, vice president of permitting at Eolian Energy, said, and the northern side of the site they will place 136 containers with batteries made of lithium iron phosphate producing 100 megawatts of power over a four-hour period. Catskill Grid LLC, the company running the facility, is talking with Central Hudson to connect the facility to the power grid. Residents such as Colleen Gavigan of Catskill worried about the impact of the new business. Gavigan said, “I live in the house I grew up in, I know it’s a throwaway neighborhood, it’s industrial, but I don’t want it worse than it was. I just don’t want the neighborhood to get worse, and from my perspective it looks like it’s going to get worse.” Adams tried to ease the neighbors concerns, but admitted fans to cool the batteries would make some noise that could go as high as 57 decibels. The public hearing for the battery storage business remains open, and will be taken up at the next meeting of the town planning board at 6:30 p.m. Feb. 27. Read more about this story at HudsonValley360.com.

Brendan J. Lyons reports in the Times Union that less than 17 hours before it was scheduled to consider proposed homegrown regulations, New York's Cannabis Control Board cancelled its January meeting. The board has been criticized for its slow rollout of legal cannabis stores, almost three years after the drug was legalized in the state. The Office of Cannabis Management said in a statement on Jan. 23 that, “The Cannabis Control Board … has decided to postpone the meeting to finalize review of adult-use license applications currently under consideration for approval by the board.... While we have a batch of licenses ready for approval, there are many more we want to get across the finish line to jumpstart New York’s cannabis market in 2024.” The statement from the board alleged the licenses were “held up by lawsuits from corporate interests” but the newspaper notes that, "much of the litigation that stalled the rollout was filed on behalf of individuals who felt jilted by the state's licensing rules." The board was expected to approve rules so New Yorkers can grown their own cannabis this growing season, and approve more retail licenses. Read more about this story in the Times Union.

Click above to download or play the "Better Weather." Produced by Joe Demanso of the Catskill Makers Syndicate.

Roger Hannigan Gilson reports in the Times Union that one of the main routes into the City of Hudson floods repeatedly now, which is only getting worse with climate change. Route 9G/23B brings drivers from the Rip Van Winkle Bridge through wetlands that abut the Hudson River just before entering the city of Hudson. And the South Bay often floods the road during rainstorms. The Hudson River is tidal, so the flooding ebbs and flows. Greenport Highway Superintendent John Mausolf said, “If we get a heavy rain, a lot of times during low tide we’re fine.... There may be an inch or two (of water on the road), but when the high tide hits, it compounds the problem.” New York Department of Transportation workers often must redirect traffic from the Rip Van Winkle Bridge to an alternate route further west, where traffic can access Hudson via Route 9 because of the flooding. Recently Route 9G flooded during a Dec. 18 storm and during a rainstorm Jan. 10. The story says, "By 2080, the Hudson could rise 2 to 4 feet, according to the DEC, and as much as 6 feet by the end of the century. At even 3 feet of river rise, the Hudson could inundate the road on a daily basis even when it is not at high tide, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Sea Level Rise Mapper." Read more about this story in the Times Union.

Mid-Hudson News reports that protesters who want Rep. Pat Ryan to back a ceasefire in the war in Gaza repeatedly interrupted his speech at the Ulster County Regional Chamber of Commerce breakfast on Jan. 24. Protesters waved signs outside of the event, and inside they shouted over his speech. Mid-Hudson News got video from the protesters of the interruptions. PLAY OR DOWNLOAD EXCERPT OF PROTESTERS YELLING. Pro-Palestinian protesters have regularly marched outside Ryan's Kingston office calling for a ceasefire. Republican Rep Marc Molinaro, from the neighboring 19th Congressional District, holds similar views of the conflict as Ryan, but is not seeing as many protesters at his events or offices. Read more about this story at Mid-Hudson News.

Heather Bellow reports in The Berkshire Eagle that birders in Western Massachusetts are excited by the spotting of two rare yellow- and black-breasted birds called dickcissels having a wintry layover in Ann-Elizabeth Barnes and Richard Meyers' yard in Egremont. The birds usually winter in Mexico, but Barnes, who is a member of the local Hoffman Birding Club, reported the sighting on eBird on Jan. 8 and Audubon on Jan. 13., and also to the local Hoffman Birding Club. Barnes said, “It’s a lifer for me,” of spotting the dickcissels, using the birder jargon "Lifer" that means you're seeing a bird for the first time. The Cornell Ornithology Lab at Cornell University says dickcissels are mostly found in “overgrown pastures, savannahs, and croplands in the central Great Plains,” and migrate to Mexico and Central and South America in the winter. One of the type of birds was sighted October 2021 at Linear Park in Williamstown, according to to Mass Audubon, which says they are a “regular but rare-to-very-uncommon migrant in Massachusetts.” Read more about this story in The Berkshire Eagle.

Today's audio daily news update.

Paul Kirby reports in the Daily Freeman that. Rep. Pat Ryan again said on Jan. 23 that Central Hudson should not get its rate approval request approved by the Public Service Commission. On Jan. 24, Central Hudson's proposed double-digit rate request went before an Albany evidentiary hearing. Before that, Ryan said in a statement, “Hudson Valley families are feeling the pressure of making ends meet – Central Hudson has absolutely no business raising rates, especially after years of systemic failures." Central Hudson is asking the New York Public Service Commission to increase electric rates by 16 percent and natural gas rates by 19 percent. The utility claims that would add roughly $1 a day to the “typical” electric customer and $1 a day to the “typical” natural gas customer. The Public Service Commission is not expected to decide on the rate increase until the second quarter of the year. Read more about this story in the Daily Freeman.